Recreational activities on mountain trails are pushing large carnivores like grizzly bears and wolves away from their native habitats, even when those trails lie hundreds of meters from where the animals roam.&nbsp;



A new study from the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/en/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Alberta</a> highlights the need for improved land management practices that allow people and wildlife to peacefully coexist. 



This issue is particularly pressing in the Bow River Valley, long recognized as a natural corridor linking the prairies to the Continental Divide.



Over the past 15 years, a team of researchers led by Peter Thompson set up camera traps at more than 1,600 sites in the Bow River Valley and surrounding areas. 



These traps were in place between 2007 and 2022, capturing over a million images of humans and tens of thousands of images of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grizzly-bears-help-huckleberries-thrive-in-a-changing-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">grizzly bears</a> and wolves.



The scientists then used statistical models to assess the relationship between human activity and carnivore presence on the landscape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-recreation-and-large-carnivores-nbsp">Human recreation and large carnivores&nbsp;</h2>



Upon examining the images and activity patterns, the researchers discovered a significant disturbance effect from busy trails, extending far beyond the immediate path.&nbsp;



The results showed that wolves and bears did not merely avoid the immediate vicinity of high-traffic areas; they stayed away from locations hundreds of meters away as well.



Thompson, formerly a postdoctoral fellow with Colleen Cassady St. Clair in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, is now a postdoctoral fellow at <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Simon Fraser University</a>.



“We initially thought bears might use hiking trails as efficient routes when humans weren’t around, but they actually avoid these areas altogether,” said Thompson.



“Our results show that human recreation has significant effects on wildlife, substantially influencing their behaviour even hundreds of meters away from the trail.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-widespread-displacement-of-large-carnivores-nbsp">Widespread displacement of large carnivores&nbsp;</h2>



For grizzly bears, half of the displacement effect from high-use trails remained in effect up to 300 meters from the trail. For wolves, this displacement was observed up to 600 meters away. Thompson noted that the phenomenon is considerably more extensive than was previously believed.



“When trails become busier, people may not realize the extent to which they are disrupting wildlife movement and habitat security,” Thompson added.&nbsp;



This finding demonstrates that outdoor enthusiasts using high-traffic trails, especially in popular regions, could unknowingly be displacing wolves and bears from substantial parts of their natural habitat.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-effects-of-recreation-on-wolves-nbsp">Effects of recreation on wolves&nbsp;</h2>



While grizzly bears are visibly impacted by busy trails, the displacement effect was even more pronounced for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gray-wolves-are-a-crucial-component-of-the-american-west/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wolves</a>. Their avoidance of human activity at distances of up to 600 meters likely relates to their year-round activity cycle, which intersects with winter recreation such as skiing and snowmobiling.&nbsp;



This further highlights how multiple forms of recreation can compound the stress on top predators.



“Wolves are even more affected by human recreation than grizzly bears, and they are active year-round, coinciding with winter recreational activities,” said St. Clair, Thompson’s former supervisor.&nbsp;



“This research highlights the critical need to manage human use in a way that allows people to share the landscape with these wary predators.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mitigating-the-impacts-on-large-carnivores-nbsp">Mitigating the impacts on large carnivores&nbsp;</h2>



The Bow River Valley is particularly significant for wildlife, functioning as a key passageway for many species.&nbsp;



Shifts in animal movement due to human traffic on trails could compromise the valley’s role as a corridor for genetic exchange and resource access.&nbsp;



If large carnivores are consistently deterred from these areas, the consequences could include altered feeding patterns, reduced breeding success, and changes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/danger-zones-climate-change-is-altering-predator-prey-dynamics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predator-prey dynamics</a>.



Land managers in this region may consider strategies such as creating buffer zones, limiting trail access during peak activity times, or issuing guidelines that reduce disturbance in critical wildlife areas.&nbsp;



Such steps might help maintain the valley’s ecological function and ensure that grizzlies, wolves, and other species can continue to move freely.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-need-for-thoughtful-recreation-planning">Need for thoughtful recreation planning</h2>



The paper’s authors emphasize that as recreational use of mountain trails grows, the effects on wildlife will likewise increase.&nbsp;



Raising awareness about how trail use displaces animals, even far from the trail itself, could encourage more responsible behavior among outdoor enthusiasts.&nbsp;



Measures such as seasonal trail closures, visitor education programs, and designated wildlife corridors could help minimize the disruption to grizzly bears, wolves, and other sensitive species.



The findings in the Bow River Valley also reflect broader challenges faced worldwide as conservation areas strive to balance human recreation with wildlife protection.&nbsp;



By taking preemptive steps - whether through trail design, user quotas, or educational outreach - policymakers and conservation managers can better safeguard critical habitats for large carnivores and foster a more harmonious coexistence between people and nature.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reevaluating-our-use-of-mountain-trails-nbsp">Reevaluating our use of mountain trails&nbsp;</h2>



This study provides actionable insights into how recreational activities influence the distribution and well-being of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/apex-predators-can-help-restore-ecosystems-but-not-immediately/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">apex predators</a>.&nbsp;



With wolves and bears essential to ecosystem balance, preventing their displacement has ecological significance beyond individual species.&nbsp;&nbsp;



According to Thompson, these results show that human recreation has significant effects on wildlife, and these findings are a call to reevaluate how we manage and use mountain trails.&nbsp;



Through careful planning and targeted conservation efforts, there is hope that humans and large carnivores can continue to share these magnificent landscapes for generations to come.



The study is published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14837" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Applied Ecology</a>.



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Mountain recreation displaces large carnivores from their habitats

Recreational activities on mountain trails are pushing large carnivores like grizzly bears and wolves away from their native habitats, even when those trails lie hundreds of meters from where the animals roam.&nbsp; A new study from the University of Alberta highlights the need for improved land management practices that allow people and wildlife to peacefully coexist. This issue is particularly pressing in the Bow River Valley, long recognized as a natural corridor linking the prairies to the Continental Divide. Over the past 15 years, a team of...

Despite their long-term reputation as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-gardens-provide-a-reliable-food-supply-for-pollinators/">garden</a> menaces, slugs and snails will no longer be classified as pests, according to Britain’s leading garden charity, the <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/">Royal Horticultural Society</a> (RHS). According to scientists from RHS, these slimy creatures are highly misunderstood and in fact play a very important role in maintaining the health of various garden ecosystems.



“The RHS is all too aware of the role that gardens have in supporting biodiversity and as such will no longer label any garden wildlife as ‘pests,’” declared RHS principal entomologist, Andrew Salisbury. “



Instead, there will be greater consideration of and focus on the role that slugs, aphids, and caterpillars play in a balanced garden ecosystem along with more popular wildlife (or animals) such as birds, hedgehogs, and frogs.”



For a long time, snails and slugs were at the top of RHS’s pest charts, with a large number of people complaining that these gastropods are destroying their crops. However, new findings show that, for example, only nine of the 44 recognized species of slugs in the UK feed upon garden plants. According to RHS, these animals should be considered nature’s recyclers, playing a fundamental role in clearing dead matter from the gardens, and constituting an important food source for birds or hedgehogs.



When slugs or snails cause unwanted damage to plants, more “ethical” modes of intervention are advised by RHS scientists, such as using mulch or planting species that gastropods will eat near prized blooms in order to attract them to these plants instead.



“We are never going to eliminate slugs, aphids, caterpillars, and other plant-munching invertebrates from our gardens – their existence after all predates the garden itself – and our plots are all the more lively and valuable because of them,” said Salisbury. “Amid the climate and biodiversity emergencies, now is the time to gracefully accept, even actively encourage, more of this life into our gardens.”



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Slugs and snails no longer classified as pests

Despite their long-term reputation as garden menaces, slugs and snails...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/">Liverpool John Moores University</a> (LJMU) has found that giant, long-necked <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sauropod-dinosaurs-lived-only-in-earths-warmer-regions/">sauropod</a> dinosaurs such as diplodocus had a gait that was most similar to that of a hippopotamus. In this so-called “diagonal gait,” each step of a front leg is in tandem, or very closely followed by, the hind leg from the opposite side. 



Such a gait allowed for efficient walking while maintaining diagonal limb support throughout the step cycle, which was very important for these huge, wide-gauged creatures.



The sauropods – a group of herbivorous dinosaurs that lived between 200 million and 66 million years ago - were among the largest animals to have ever walked the Earth, some of them weighing the equivalent of 14 African elephants. Scientists have previously thought that these creatures used to walk like elephants, employing a “lateral gait,” with the two limbs on the same body side tending to move forward one after the other.



“Everybody always assumed that sauropods walked like modern elephants,” said study lead author Jens Lallensack, a paleontologist at LJMU. “But they didn’t, and we think that’s because the sauropods were just so much broader.”



Four-footed animals use different gaits, such as trots, walks, or pace gaits. In a trot, one diagonal pair limb - such as the hind right and front left legs - moves together, followed by the other diagonal limb pair. A large number of mammals use trots while running, while reptiles use this type of gait at slow speeds.



By analyzing fossilized Lower Cretaceous sauropod footprints from three sites in Arkansas, Dr. Lallensack and his colleagues&nbsp;have found that the sauropod gait was most similar to a trot, while still presenting slight differences.&nbsp;



When most animals trot, the two diagonal limbs land at the same time. In the case of sauropods though, the front foot touched down just before the hind, diagonal one. This particular gait allowed them to have at least one foot on the ground on both the left and right sides of the body at all times, preventing them to sway from side to side and lose their balance.&nbsp;



“Sauropods chose a gait that maximized stability, but still allowed for efficient walking,” concluded Dr. Lallensack.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.012">Current Biology</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Giant sauropods walked more like hippos than elephants

A new study led by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU)...

Mussel,On,A,Sandy,Beach.,Background.,Close-up.

Mussels attach themselves tenaciously to rocks and other substrates to survive the pummeling of harsh <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-species-can-hitchhike-on-ocean-plastic/">ocean</a> waves. The secret to their powerful bond is a type of natural glue. Made of multiple proteins, this “glue” coats the mussel’s foot and sticks it to surfaces.&nbsp;



Engineers have sought to understand this “glue” better and create their own version of the substance. Now, researchers at <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> think they’ve cracked the code of the mussel glue.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, in an attempt to mimic the mussel’s glue, they somehow improved upon it. The new substance, which is made of protein-like polymers, could be useful for medicine.&nbsp;



“The polymer could be used as an adhesive in a biomedical context, which means now you could stick it to a specific tissue in the body,” said Northwestern’s Nathan Gianneschi. “And keep other molecules nearby in one place, which would be useful in wound healing or repair.”



In the natural mussel glue, there are chains of amino acids that give the substance the properties of being stretchy, sticky and strong. This is very hard for researchers to replicate. Study first author Or Berger found a way to mimic these same properties in the lab, placing the amino acid building blocks into a synthetic polymer.&nbsp;



“Proteins arrange amino acids as chains, but instead we took them and arranged them in parallel, on a dense synthetic polymer backbone,” said Gianneschi. “This was the same thing we have begun to do for controlling specific biological interactions, so the same platform technology we will use for future therapeutics has really become potentially interesting in materials science.”



After creating their version of mussel glue, the scientists tested the substance alongside the native glue. They put both substances on glass plates and then watched to see which would adhere more cells to the plate. It turned out that their synthetic glue held more cells than the native mussel glue.



“We actually didn’t mean to improve on the mussel’s properties," said Berger. "We only meant to mimic it, but when we went and tested it in several different assays, we actually got better properties than the native material in these settings.”



The scientists already have other ideas of nature-based synthetic materials, such as those inspired by substances found in insect legs and wings.&nbsp;



The study is published in the <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/jacsat">Journal of American Chemistry Society</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Glue inspired by mussels may help heal the human body

Mussels attach themselves tenaciously to rocks and other substrates to...

Ichthyosaurs, also known as “fish lizards,” were porpoise-like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-complicated-story-of-tooth-evolution-among-reptiles/">reptiles</a> that swam the Earth’s seas for about 160 million years. They lived during the time of dinosaurs, from the early Triassic to late Cretaceous.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Ichthyosaurs have been the subject of paleontological research for a long time, and there are some exceedingly well-preserved fossils, such as one which seems to have a fetus preserved inside her. This is a lot of material for scientists to work with.&nbsp;



"Since the initial discoveries of ichthyosaur remains, great strides have been made in understanding their biology and ecology, making them one of the better known fossil tetrapods," wrote the study authors. "These scientific achievements have also inspired a chain of progressively evolving life style reconstructions, particularly during the 20th century, that mirror our constantly refined perception of these animals."



“This research history spans 300 years. It is worth noting that the term ichthyosaur was coined in 1814, i.e. almost 30 years before the term dinosaur," said Mats E. Eriksson, professor of paleontology at <a href="https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/">Lund University</a>.



To consolidate 300 years of research into one visual project, Swedish paleontologists teamed up with Danish sculpting company <a href="https://www.10tons.dk/">10tons</a> to create a life-like sculpture. Ichthyosaur fossils, like most fossils, preserve mainly hard parts. Recent discoveries, however, have given new insights into the soft tissues and coloration of the animals, allowing the creation of a highly accurate sculpture.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Our reference point was a fish lizard that was found in Holzmaden, Germany. This fossil has previously been the subject of an extensive study on the biology and coloration of fish lizards, which I did together with Mats and several other colleagues, and was published in Nature”, explained Johan Lindgren, geology researcher at Lund University.



The sculpting was a painstaking and detailed enterprise, taking many methods to complete from 3D printing to clay sculpting to finish painting. The sculpture took about a year to create and is now on display in the Department of Geology in Lund.&nbsp;



“Our reconstruction is the scientifically most modern, and hopefully correct, interpretation of what these animals looked like. It will be valuable for students and researchers who want to learn more about the iconic fish lizard," concluded Mats E. Eriksson.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/earth-science-reviews">Earth-Science Reviews</a>.



Image Credit: Johan Joelsson



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists reconstruct an ancient fish lizard

Ichthyosaurs, also known as “fish lizards,” were porpoise-like reptiles that...

New research on Australian bull ants shows how their venom has evolved to perfectly target a key <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predators-help-prevent-biodiversity-loss/">predator</a>, the echidna, by inflicting long-term pain.&nbsp;



Dr. Sam Robinson and David Eagles from UQ’s <a href="https://imb.uq.edu.au/">Institute for Molecular Bioscience</a> found a venom molecule that exploits a pain pathway in mammals, which has evolved as a ‘secret weapon’, specifically to stop echidnas attacking the ant’s nests and going after their young.&nbsp;



“Venoms are complex cocktails and while bull ant venom contains molecules similar to those found in honey bee stings which cause immediate pain, we also found an intriguing new molecule that was different,” said Dr Robinson.



The venom molecule appears to be present for the sole purpose of defending against mammals as it matched the sequence of hormones related to Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) and was closely related to that of the echidna.



In other words, the venom has a toxin that mimics a hormone of it’s enemy, which exploits the pain pathway, causing not just an immediate sting, but long-term sensitivity to pain. This long-term pain may cause the echidna to think twice before it strikes again.&nbsp;



“Many small carnivorous marsupials, like bandicoots, eat individual ants, but only the echidna is known to attack bull ant nests and target their young – we think that making the echidna sensitive to pain, in tandem with the immediate ‘bee-sting’ pain, may dissuade it from returning to the nests," said Dr. Robinson. "It brings to mind the ancient proverb ‘to know your enemy, you must become your enemy.’”



While the study is specific to how the bull ant’s venom inflicts chronic pain on its greatest predator, the research shows promise of informing new approaches to treating long-term pain in humans.&nbsp;



For example, EGF-inhibitor drugs are commonly used to slow cancer tumor growth, and the patients that take them experience less pain.



The researchers hope that their findings can encourage new strategies for pain treatment, especially for long-term pain, where treatment is limited.&nbsp;



A quick <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh7iwGemJeo">Youtube video</a> provides a summary of the research findings, which are published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bull ants have a ferocious sting that causes long-term pain

New research on Australian bull ants shows how their venom...

Abalone mollusks – a type of giant sea snails that are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity – are threatened, endangered, or otherwise vulnerable in nearly every corner of the world. They face multiple, often intertwining threats ranging from warming ocean temperatures and disease to crashing kelp forests and habitat <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/environmental-era-of-pandemics/">degradation</a>.



Abalone suction onto surfaces and have to be pried off for gonad inspection before spawning. However, these animals are very sensitive and can be easily harmed during this process.&nbsp;



As part of an effort to conserve federally endangered black abalone and find better ways to assess their reproductive health, a research team led by the <a href="http://archive">University of California Davis</a> has developed a technique that uses an ultrasound transducer to quickly and noninvasively detect when abalone are ready to spawn. Although this technique has already been used for gonad assessments on sturgeon and catfish, it has not been tested on sea snails before.



“There are not a lot of animal welfare methods applied to invertebrate animals, let alone for aquatic species,” said study corresponding author Jackson Gross, an assistant professor of Cooperative Extension in Aquaculture at UC Davis. “Here's a way to increase the welfare of an abalone without bringing added stress to them.”



The scientists found that ultrasounds could differentiate reproductive tissues from digestive tissues. By submerging the abalone underwater in its tank and placing the ultrasound transducer on the outside of the tank by the abalone’s foot, the researchers could assess the abalone’s reproductive readiness without touching it at all.&nbsp;



“This is very helpful for broodstock managers when trying to select individuals for a spawning season, whether for production aquaculture or conservation,” said study lead author Sara Boles, a postdoctoral researcher&nbsp;at UC Davis. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We're excited to see how much faster we can use this technology to assess the health of these animals, especially in a world where climate change is making an impact,” concluded Professor Gross.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.784481/full">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Ultrasound technology can help protect abalone mollusks

Abalone mollusks – a type of giant sea snails that...

An international team has created <a href="https://fishsounds.net/">FishSounds.net</a>, the first-ever online interactive database of fish sounds. Many people are familiar with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-populations-are-declining-worldwide/">bird</a> songs, howling coyotes, and whale songs, and these sounds are well understood. Still, a lot of people don't know that fish create sounds to communicate.&nbsp;



“People are often surprised to learn that fish make sounds. But you could make the case that they are as important for understanding fish as bird sounds are for studying birds," said Audrey Looby, a doctoral candidate at the <a href="https://www.ufl.edu/">University of Florida</a> IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.



Scientists have been listening to fish sounds for almost 150 years. Nearly one thousand fish species actively produce noises like the "croaking" sounds of the toad fishes, and several hundred make passive sounds like splashing and chewing. Kieran Cox of the University of Victoria believes that we will find more species that make sound with further research.&nbsp;



So why do fish make noises? Some scientists believe that they do so because sound is a practical way to communicate in water, which provides excellent acoustics.&nbsp;



Since many fish species live in murky waters where other forms of communication are challenging, sound allows them to still send messages to each other. Moreover, fish have a lot to talk about.&nbsp;



"Fish sounds contain a lot of important information," explained Looby. "Fish may communicate about territory, predators, food, and reproduction. And when we can match fish sounds to fish species, their sounds are a kind of calling card that can tell us what kinds of fish are in an area and what they are doing."



Sounds created by fish communication could provide conservationists and managers with another way to monitor fish. With the help of fish sound databases, like <a href="https://fishsounds.net/">FishSounds.net</a>, the hope is that ecologists could use specialized underwater microphones called hydrophones to find out where fish are and perhaps gain more insight into the inner world of fish.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/11160">Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Fish sounds are important for conservation efforts

An international team has created FishSounds.net, the first-ever online interactive...

A research team led by <a href="https://www.nuigalway.ie/">National University of Ireland Galway</a> (NUI Galway) has published the first record of a noble false widow spider feeding on a protected species of Pipistrelle bats in the United Kingdom. It is also the first time for any species of false widow spiders to be recorded preying on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-mammals-are-vanishing-in-the-uk/">mammals</a>, offering new evidence of how these spiders continue to impact native UK species.



The noble false widow is a species of spiders belonging to the family Theridiidae. It was first reported in southern England in 1879 and has significantly increased its range and population density in recent decades, spreading through Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. During the same period, the false widow has also spread globally to Europe, East Asia, North America, and South America.&nbsp;



These spiders possess a fast-acting neurotoxic venom with a very similar composition to that of true black widows, which can cause neuromuscular paralysis in terrestrial vertebrates. Although their bites are known to cause a range of mild to severe symptoms in people, their impact on native animal species has not yet been systematically documented.



Wildlife artist Ben Waddams has recently found two bats living in the attic of his home in North Stropshire, England, entangled in the spider’s web below the entrance to the roost. While a young bat pup was already dead and completely immobilized with its limbs pinned tightly to the torso with silk, the second, much larger bat, was still alive and was rescued.



“In more exotic parts of the world, scientists have been documenting such predation events by spiders on small vertebrates for many years, but we are only beginning to realize just how common these events occur. Now that this alien species has become well established in Ireland and Britain, we are witnessing such fascinating events on our very own doorstep,” said study lead author Dr. John Dunbar, a postdoctoral fellow at NUI Galway.



“Even other, much smaller, species of false widows are known to capture and feed on snakes and lizards. This study presents yet another example of the invasive impact by the noble false widow spider on native species. We know they are much more competitive than native spiders, and this further confirms their impact on prey species.”



“In the last three years alone, we have observed two occasions of the alien noble false widow capturing and feeding on protected species of vertebrate animals in Ireland and Britain,” added study co-author Aiste Vitkauskaite, a research assistant at NUI Galway.



“As the noble false widow continues to expand its range and increase populations across Ireland and Britain, we should expect to observe similar predation events on small vertebrate animals by this spider, including protected species.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.3959">Ecosphere</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Noble false widow spiders prey upon protected bat species

A research team led by National University of Ireland Galway...

Since being identified in 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has infected a wide range of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/omicron-is-still-circulating-widely-through-animal-populations/">animal</a> species, both wild and domestic. Many scientists are concerned that these inter-species jumps can lead to novel mutations and even new, potentially dangerous variants.&nbsp;



A research team led by University of Pennsylvania’s <a href="https://www.vet.upenn.edu/">School of Veterinary Medicine</a> (Penn Vet) and <a href="https://www.med.upenn.edu/">Perelman School of Medicine</a> has recently sequenced the viral genome sampled from a house cat infected with SARS-CoV-2 in 2021 and found that it was a close match to viral sequences circulating in people in the Philadelphia region at that time. This suggests that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted from one species to another without necessarily acquiring a significant number of mutations.



“SARS-CoV-2 has a really incredibly wide host range,” said study senior author Elizabeth Lennon, a veterinarian and assistant professor at Penn Vet. “What this means to me is that, as SARS-CoV-2 continues to be prevalent in the human population, we need to watch what's happening in other animal species as well.”



Since early in the pandemic, Professor Lennon and her colleagues have been sampling dogs and cats that were exposed to the virus in order to better understand the mechanisms of inter-species transmission. This particular cat – an 11-year-old female brought to the <a href="https://www.vet.upenn.edu/veterinary-hospitals/ryan-veterinary-hospital">Ryan Veterinary Hospital</a> with gastrointestinal symptoms – had been exposed to an owner who had COVID-19. Sequencing the genome of the cat’s virus, the researchers found that she was infected with the AY.3 lineage of the Delta variant, which was widely circulating in the Delaware Region at the time.



“When we looked at a random sampling of human sequences from our geographic area, there wasn't anything dramatically different about our cat's sample,” Professor Lennon reported. “So, our takeaway was that the cat was not infected by a virus that was somehow highly different.”&nbsp;



Although this particular case does not raise alarms for the virus acquiring a significant number of mutations as it moved between species, scientists are on the alert for other cases of infected animals which could harbor more dangerous variants.



“We know that the SARS-CoV-2 is undergoing changes as it passes between to become more and more transmissible over time," said Professor Lennon. "We saw that with the Omicron variant. It's host-adapting to people. We also want to know, when other animal species get infected, does the virus start to adapt to those species? And for those viruses that may adapt to a different species, do they still infect humans?”&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/2/421">Viruses</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

House cat had the same COVID variant as humans

Since being identified in 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has infected a wide...

According to a new study published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.836941">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>, pet owners may unknowingly feed their pets meat from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/people-eating-endangered-sharks/">endangered sharks</a>. By using DNA barcoding to investigate the occurrence of shark meat in different pet food products sold in Singapore, a research team from <a href="https://www.yale-nus.edu.sg/">Yale-NUS College</a> in Singapore has revealed a considerable prevalence of ingredient mislabeling, with ambiguous terms such as “fish,” “ocean fish,” or “white bait” in fact standing for meat obtained from threatened shark species.



Sharks are crucial for the proper functioning of marine ecosystems. They maintain balanced food chains by shifting their prey’s distribution and changing the feeding strategy of most other marine species. The loss of sharks had a marked negative impact even on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/symbiotic-bacteria-provide-nutrients-to-seagrasses/">seagrass</a> and coral reef.



Overfishing, together with the growing shark fin and meat trade is increasingly endangering already threatened shark populations. According to recent estimates, over 100 million sharks are killed annually.



“Shark populations are overfished throughout the world, with declines of more than 70 percent in the last 50 years documented. This is indicative of the current lack of regard in which we hold our oceans,” wrote the study authors.



Silent contributors to the decline of shark populations&nbsp;are also the cosmetic and pet food industry. Certain body care and beauty products use shark-derived squalene, instead of the most sustainable, plant-derived one. Moreover, the analysis of pet food samples in the United States in 2019 found traces of shark meat in 78 of the samples.



By using DNA barcoding to investigate whether there was shark DNA in 45 different pet products from 16 different brands sold in Singapore, the researchers found that 31 percent of the 144 samples taken clearly contained shark DNA, although none of the products listed shark as an ingredient.&nbsp;



The most frequently identified shark species was the blue shark (Prionace glauca), followed by the silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), and the whitetip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus).&nbsp;Both the silky shark and the whitetip reef shark are&nbsp;listed as “vulnerable” in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List</a>.



These results are further evidence of the high overfishing pressure to which sharks are increasingly subjected. The authors call for more transparency in ingredient labelling which could allowed consumers to make informed purchases.



“The majority of pet owners are likely lovers of nature, and we think most would be alarmed to discover that they could be unknowingly contributing to the overfishing of shark populations,” the authors concluded.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Endangered shark meat secretly added to pet food

According to a new study published in the journal Frontiers...

Plastic debris is widespread throughout the oceans and may be carried far from its source when it catches the right waves or currents. As if the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-global-issue-of-plastic-trash-nears-a-tipping-point/">trash</a> itself isn’t bad enough, new research suggests that invasive species may be hitching rides to distant shores on ocean plastic. &nbsp;



The study documented a total of 15 non-native species, including bryozoans and other invertebrates, on beaches on the Catalan coast. There was even a shark egg case found attached to plastic trash. The research, which was led by the <a href="https://www.icm.csic.es/ca">Institut de Ciències del Mar</a> (ICM-CSIC), highlights the necessity of keeping an eye on plastic pollution problems.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"It is important to undertake constant monitoring to confirm the establishment of this and other non-native species in natural or artificial habitats on the Catalan coast, as in the future they could become invasive and, consequently, contribute to the reduction of natural biodiversity, making ecosystems less resilient to change," said study co-author Blanca Figuerola, a specialist in bryozoans.



Most of the species found on the plastics were from shallow water areas and most of the plastics were lighter than water. It seems that the only reason the plastics were found in the seabed at all was from the additional weight of attached organisms.



"This shows that the colonization of plastic surfaces by different organisms plays an important role in the sinking of plastic debris, so the identification of these organisms can provide us key information on the processes of plastic dispersion and transport in the oceans," explained Figuerola.



The scientists suspect that the plastic is only temporarily caught in the coastal zones but may sometimes be swept out to deeper waters by energetic currents.&nbsp;



"The presence of different species attached to the plastics found on the beaches suggests that this deposition is not permanent, and that these particles that have been deposited on the seabed may first be resuspended by currents, and then transported back to the coast due to the waves during storms," said study co-author Anna Sànchez, lecturer in the University of Barcelona.



The study points out an easily overlooked way in which plastic trash may be changing, and damaging, marine ecosystems. The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/marine-pollution-bulletin">Marine Pollution Bulletin</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Invasive species can hitchhike on ocean plastic

Plastic debris is widespread throughout the oceans and may be...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>, scientists have investigated how wild chimpanzee social networks are impacted by human-dominated landscapes. The researchers discovered that male and female chimpanzees react much differently to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/could-a-botanical-extract-extend-the-lifespan-of-humans/">human</a> presence.&nbsp;



"Wild animals are being forced to modify their behavior due to the risks of living alongside humans," said study lead author Zoe Satsias.



By observing chimpanzees in forests and human-dominated landscapes, the researchers determined that females tend to avoid human presence, particularly those with dependent offspring. This avoidance may be because the females are less likely to risk the danger associated with human presence. These risks include the humans themselves, dogs, livestock, snares, traps, and roads.&nbsp;



Males seem to feel much differently. In fact, Dr. Matt McLennan, who runs the Bulindi Chimpanzee and Community Project, said that male chimpanzees seem unperturbed by the prospect of running into people, and are even willing to engage in confrontations with villagers.



The differences in behavior affect chimpanzee social structure. Dr. Kimberly Hockings is an expert in the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall. She explained that males and females were equally central in their social networks inside the forest - but in more risky croplands and village areas, the core of the social network was dominated exclusively by males.



This change in social structure could lead to devastating consequences for chimpanzee populations as human encroachment continues.



"The avoidance of certain areas by females – resulting in them being in the periphery of their social networks – could disrupt the spread of information and reduce social learning opportunities for younger chimpanzees, potentially suppressing the learning of new behaviors that could help them survive," said Dr. Hockings.



"Large animal species are most likely to survive human-induced rapid environmental change if they display high levels of behavioral flexibility," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"Examining social responses in species that form closely bonded social groups and display high fission-fusion dynamics, such as chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, will help determine their resilience to dynamic human activities and the potential for sustainable human-wildlife interactions."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/animal-behaviour">Animal Behaviour</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Female chimpanzees try to avoid the dangers of humans

In a new study from the University of Exeter, scientists...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Santiago, Chile in South America

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Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...